Coperni’s Disneyland Paris Collection Lands At Printemps New York

Coperni designers Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant took a bite out of the Big Apple to introduce their exclusive Disneyland Paris collaboration collection at the new French multi-brand store, Printemps New York. Introduced last October at Disneyland Paris just outside the City of Lights, the collection, dubbed a “celebration of youth, nostalgia, and imagination,” marked the first time a fashion brand was permitted to stage a fashion show at the amusement park, thus diving into the rich design motifs and making them Coperni cool was the assignment. The resulting offerings will be exclusive to the newly opened department store in New York during April.

The store was designed to host rotating pop-ups, and the Disney X Coperni is the second company to set up its wares. ‘Just One Byte’ will display the broadest range of the collection in the US market. The designers Meyer and Vaillant hosted a cocktail event to celebrate, marking a rare appearance in New York. As guests sipped the retailer’s house crémant, nibbled canapes, and were offered their apples to take a bite out of, the designers explained why the tie-up was a perfect match.

“We are very lucky and very happy to be here because it’s a French store, and the Disney collection is about an American company; I think it’s the perfect match,” Meyer said at the opening event, which also featured an illustrator creating Disney-inspired drawings for the attendees. “I loved the second floor a lot; there was something a bit magical with the decoration and set,” he added.

“We wanted to make it cool so people could wear it in the streets and not be a costume. It was a difficult challenge, but we enjoyed it. Coperni is not too snobby; it’s real for everyday life and people,” he continued. Case in point, a black flat Mary Jane shoe with crystal pavè ‘horn’ décor was inspired by Maleficient but had a cool, punk edge.

The collection—which brought the two Frenchmen back to their childhoods where a trip to the big city also meant Disneyland Paris—riffs on themes such as Snow White’s apple, tattered rags that transform into ballgowns, the enchanted rose from Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid’s life under the sea. Playing into Disney’s cinematic side, the show and collection were divided into three acts: Park Tribes, which plays into Victorian elements, organza butterflies, and vintage Disney T-shirts; The Villain, which transforms these powerful figures tropes into striking modern garments; and The Princess Transformation which uses the brand’s signature innovation aspect to make bionic flowers on garments and dresses that morph like a butterfly.

Some of the highlights carried at the pop-up will be bustier gowns and distressed flowers sequined dresses, T-shirts and hoodies with Disney characters, ‘Just One Byte’ or playful riffs on Disney themes such as Maleficent’s horns, and even a crown because who doesn’t want a touch of royalty daily. The piece de resistance might be the Mickey ears on the brand’s Swipe bag.

The collection is an example of the space informing the designs, similar to how the European Music Center inspired that collection.

“Sometimes a place can inspire us. In New York, there are so many amazing places,” Meyer noted, adding that they had been to The Met and some local art galleries, which begs one to ponder if the duo’s next act will reflect the Big Apple, which, while slightly browning, is not yet rotten to the core.